Coronavirus

Advice about the Coronavirus

What is the Coronavirus?

Coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. Typical symptoms of coronavirus include fever and a cough that may progress to severe pneumonia causing shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

Generally, coronavirus can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease.

There are things you can do to help stop viruses like coronavirus spreading.

Do

  • cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze.

  • put used tissues in the bin immediately See Catch it, Bin it, Kill it

  • wash your hands with soap and water often – use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available. This is particularly important after taking public transport.

  • pupils, students, staff and visitors should wash their hands:

    • before leaving home

    • on arrival at school

    • after using the toilet

    • after breaks and sporting activities

    • before food preparation

    • before eating any food, including snacks

    • before leaving school

  • try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell

  • clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces

Don't

X - Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean


If you are worried about your symptoms or those of a child or colleague, please call NHS 111. Do not go directly to your GP or other healthcare environment

See further information on the Public Health England Blog and the NHS website has more information about how you can reduce the possible spread of infection.

Government Guidelines

There has been a lot of information in the media about the Coronavirus and what preventative measures we should be taking.

The government is issuing guidance daily to educational establishments which we are sharing with Headteachers to cascade to staff. Based on the World Health Organization’s declaration that this is a public health emergency of international concern, the UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk to the public from low to moderate. This permits the government to plan for all eventualities. The risk to individuals remains low.

There is currently a list of countries/areas (detailed below) where the Government is advising people to self-isolate and work from home for 14 days even if they DO NOT have the symptoms. These areas are only if you have returned from these specific areas since 19 February 2020. If you have visited any of these areas you should call the NHS on 111 to inform them of recent travel.

These countries currently are:

  • Wuhan city and Hubei Province (China, see map)

  • Iran

  • Daegu or Cheongdo (Republic of Korea, see map)

  • Any Italian town under containment measures (see map)

You do not need to undertake any special measures if you have visited the following countries in the last 14 days, however if you develop the symptoms you should self-isolate and call the NHS on 111.

  • Cambodia

  • China* (except for areas of the country specifically referred to on the map above)

  • Hong Kong

  • Italy: north* (except for areas of the country specifically referred to on the map above)

  • Japan

  • Laos

  • Macau

  • Malaysia

  • Myanmar

  • Republic of Korea* (except for areas of the country specifically referred to on the map above)

  • Singapore

  • Taiwan

  • Thailand

  • Vietnam

The key message is we do not want to take risks but also need to be sensible so that the education of our students is not compromised.


Travellers returning from abroad

The government is carrying out enhanced monitoring of direct flights from the affected areas. Passengers will be told how to report any symptoms they develop during the flight, at the time of arrival, or after leaving the airport.


Resources for Schools to use

Please ensure that you either utilise the government resources around hygiene (or your own if they are robust) and teach/remind your students about this.

Resources for Schools


What else can schools do?

  • Send home information to your families around cleanliness, hygiene.

  • Find out from your parents / students if they are planning to travel abroad in the near future and where they are going.

If the parent or carer still decides that they need their child to travel, schools must make it clear that anyone returning from any highlighted country will be required to spend a period of 14 days in the UK before returning to school, and should self-isolate during this time.


Commuting

Currently guidelines state - there is “a lack of scientific evidence on the impact of internal travel restrictions on transmission” and it concludes that “for these reasons, the working presumption will be that the government will not impose any such restrictions” on travel in a pandemic situation.

However, we would urge staff and students who commute to ensure they wash their hands immediately upon arrival to work/school and must ensure they are aware of all the precautions mentioned above in the good hygiene section.